Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

DRAG RACING NHRA WINSTON DRAG RACING SERIES Round 13: Houston Raceway Park (Above) John Smith rode his AnokaRamsey Suzuki GSX-R to his first win in more than a year with a 7.32-t0-7.43 victory over Greg Underdahl's NCN Suzuk i in the final round, (Left) Matt Hines didn 't win the Super Nationals , but he didn't walk away emptyhanded, either, Hines clinched his second straight S30,OOO Winston Pro Stock Bike cha mpionship by mere ly qualifying for the Houston race. By Kev in McKenna HOUSTON, IX, ocr. 3O-NOV. 1 or the firs t tim e in more than a year, ..... neither Ma tt Hines nor Angelle Seel- ing w o n a n N H RA Winston Dra g Racing Series Pro Stock Bike eve nt. H ines, the reigning class champ and wi nner of nine of th e season's firs t 12 races, and Seeli ng, w ho has won everyth ing that Hines ha sn ' t in 1999, were now he re to be found when th e final round of the Matco Too ls Su per ationals was run nearly 24 hours later than CO sc heduled d ue to heavy ra in s. Seeling 0\ too k herself out of action in ro und one 0\ after a foul start against Ge no Scali, an d ,..... ....... Hines followed a round late r w ith a red00 lig h t o f hi s own against G reg U nder,..... dahl, w ho went on to the final ro und to 5:J face his friend and Minnesota neighbor ..0 John Smith, who recorded his first win since the 1997 Sears Craft sman Nati on III als in St. Louis last Jul y. > " I don't want any one to think that the ' ~ only reason w e w on w as because Matt and An gelle we n t ou t ea rly," sa id Sm ith , who w on his fourth career titl e with a 7.32-7.43 win over Underdahl. "We wa nt 1 E O to prove that we're as good as either of th em, and this weekend , I thi n k we showed that we can be. We ran good on every pass, and I d on 't have any reason to think th at we cou ldn 't h a v e b eat either one of them if we had the cha nce." Ind eed , Sm ith's win s ho u ld hardly come as a su rp rise to anyone who follow s the Pro Stock Bike class. The former Rookie of the Yea r has finis he d in the top five in the p o in t s sta ndings every year si nce 1992, and his A nokaRamsey Sport Center-backed Suzuki is o ne of jus t th r ee b ik e s to record an elapsed time in the 7.2-second zone this year. Smith had o p portunities to wi n ' races ea rlier in the season, but a variety o f problem s p re v e n ted him fro m ad vancing past the semifi nals, . "W e' ve had parts br eakage, we' ve made bad tunin g ca lls, we' ve had bad luck, and believe it or not, we 've actually lost a few ra ces because of ope ra tor error," Smith joked. "Ma tt and Angelle a re s till th e lead ers as far as performance goes, but t h e ga p is clos ing . There are probably five o r six bikes that are ca pable of w in ni ng rig h t no w . I'm just g lad that ours is one of them. " Thro ug ho ut four qualifying runs and fo ur eli m ina t io n ro u nds in Houston , Smith mad e just one run slow er than 7.35 seco nds, and in elim ina tions he had the quic kest bike in each round, with a 7.34 w in over Cra ig Tr ebl e in round one, a close 7.33-7.36 win over Antron Brown's Team 23 Suzu ki in round two, and a 7.34 in the semis opposite Steve Johnson. " I think w e co u ld have run in th e 7.20s this weekend, but we never go t in a position w he re we had to lean on the bike that hard," Smith sai d. "We were making clean , consistent runs all weekend, and the bike wa s very easy to rid e, so m y crew chie f, D a ve Harlan d e r , deci ded to stick with a com bination that we knew would w ork rather than tak e a ga mb le." Th ou g h H in es failed to win for th e th ird straight race, he d idn't walk away from H ou ston emp ty-handed, as he clinched his second-straight Winston Pro Stock Bike crown and the $30,000 bonus that accompanies it. Hines needed only to qu alify for the 16-bike field to m a ke it officia l, a n d w hen h e r an a track-record 7.26 on Friday, his spo t in the field w as secu re. . "It's nice to clinch the cham pions hip, but 1 wa nted to win the ra ce, too, " Hines sai d . "I d o n't kn ow why I red-lighted . At first, 1 th ou ght th e bike mi ght hav e ro ll ed ba ck w ard out o f the s tag ing beams, but 1 d on' t think th at w as th e probl em. 1 ju st lost my co ncen tra tion. The good thi ng is that I'm good friend s w it h John Sm ith and Greg Underdahl, a n d th e y bo th run Va nce & H ines engines, so 1 couldn't lose either way." Th e early d emise of H ines and Seelin g a lso o pened th e d oor fo r H ector Ara na and Steve Johnson to advance to th e semifinal round . Both racer s st ruggled early in the season, but Johnson has been one of the mo st consisten t racers on th e tour since ad vancing to th e se mi finals of the U.S. Nationals in September, and Arana was ticke ted for his first fina lrou nd appearance in more than a year ag ainst Underdahl , until hi s Lucas Oil Products-ba cked Suzuki GSX-R suffered a rar e mechanical failure in the se mis. "I was way ahead and I w as goi ng to beat Greg, a n d then a ca rb u re tor fell off," sa id Ara na, w ho coasted to an 11second e.t, as Underdahl rolled to a 7.47 to m ake it to his second final rou nd of th e year. "We had th e sa me p roblem during one of our qualifying runs, bu t w e thought we had it fixed . It's a sha me, bu t after the way w e've struggled, I' m happy ju st to wi n a cou ple of rounds." Underdahl, w ho all but locked u p the fourth spo t in the points stand ings when he reached the final ro u nd, likely could have given Smit h more of a battl e in the final round, bu t the seco nd -yea r rider had trouble ge tti ng th rough th e crosswind that blew in the last couple of rounds. "We have the power to run with Jo h n nv (S mith) and we could have given him mo re of a race, but the crosswind really gave me fits," Underdahl said. "We tried everything we co uld think of to ge t th ro ugh it clea nly , bu t we d id n' t figu re it ou t in tim e. It's frustrat: ing to lose, but the way w e've been running, I kn ow it 's ju st a matter of tim e before we win one of these." ,~ Houston Raceway Park Houston, Texas Results: October 3O-November 1 (Round 13of14) PRO STOCK FINAL: 1. John Smith (Su z ) 732/185 .45; 2. Greg Underdahl (Suz) 7.43/180.54 Upcoming Round: Round 14- Pomona. California, November 12-15

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